Far From Home
by Alara Jaems
Summary: O.C. Set in s3. Cordy gets a vision, Angel goes to help the subject of said vision. A girl. They're not the only ones after the girl though.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Angel characters. I hold no rights to the show at all, and I am making no profit off of this story. Don't sue. You won't get much.

Yes, this has an original character. Call her a mary-sue, call her whatever you want. Truth is, whatever I write is the result of some dream I had. I've just elaborated and fleshed out the dreams.

I have no clue why I felt the need to mention that, but anyway. So if this seems like a cookie-cutter story, blame it on my unimaginative subconscious.

Also, another note. I know that the Matrix Reloaded was released years after season 3 of Angel. But I checked out the movies that came out in October '01, and I didn't really see them going to the theater for those. Not the whole gang anyway, so I just went with the Matrix. shrug

Onto the story...

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She was tired. Events of the past month streamed through her mind as she played with her soda straw. Life had gotten so much more complicated in such a short amount of time. Before it all changed, her biggest worry had been what classes to take at the local college. Now she was in a strange city with nowhere to go, no one to turn to. She could feel the waitress' eyes on her. She had been sitting at the same booth, playing with her straw for the past hour and a half. It was getting late and she still needed to find a place to sleep tonight, so she quickly drank her Pepsi, gathered some of what little money she had left from her backpack and paid. Throwing her backpack over one shoulder and tossing her long black braid out of her navy-blue jacket, she quickly left the fast food establishment making sure to avoid the people as much as possible. The hunger was growing harder to resist, especially around crowded places, and L.A. was pretty damn crowded. She breathed in the damp night air as she stepped outside. It had recently rained. She had always loved the smell of rain when she was a kid, but L.A. rain smelled different. Dirtier. It wasn't like the wonderful rain at home.

The 18-year-old sighed, trying to forget her case of homesickness and turned to walk down the street, no clue where she was going. The money she had brought with her had almost run out. There definitely wasn't enough for a hotel, even a sleazy one. She wondered where homeless people slept. Back home they didn't really have 'homeless people', and if they did, she had never seen them. Was she supposed to sleep under an overpass? She didn't think sleeping in an alley would be all that safe considering that there was no sort of protection.

She wandered the streets still, walking aimlessly as she tried to think of somewhere to sleep that had some sort of walls, or something.

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"No man! I'm telling you. Trinity couldn't have died. They've made a third movie, and they couldn't do a third one without Trinity!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes as she tuned out the argument Gunn and Wesley were currently having. She turned to look next to her as they walked into the hotel. "How'd you like the movie, Fred?" she asked the still jittery girl they had brought back from Pylea.

"Oh! I found it all very interesting! The idea that this is all just an illusion created by machines. That really, we're just sources of energy for the very things we created." The young woman caught herself at the blank look Cordy was giving her. "The highway scene was cool," she said a little apologetically as Cordelia nodded and headed for the lobby desk. She glanced back to Angel, who had apparently joined in the debate between Gunn and Wesley. Cordelia sighed, exasperated, and she looked around for her keys.

Finally finding them beneath the new Vogue, she turned to head back out the door. Fred now seemed deeply interested in the boy's conversation as she watched them with an intense focus. "I'm going home," she said as she passed the gang. "Thanks for the movie. I'll see you tomorrow." Heading up the stairs, she reached for the hotel doors. Suddenly her head felt like it was being slowly cracked open, as images sporadically flashed inside her mind. She felt herself fall hard against the hotel floor, the guys rushing over to her, calling her name.

The last image faded from her mind as she slowly regained her grasp on reality. Angel was holding onto her, saying her name. Feeling as though she had just sky-dived without a parachute, Cordelia opened her eyes and took some deep breaths. "Uh, a girl. In some abandoned building. There were other people there. Like it was a crack house, or something." She spoke weakly as she tried to raise herself from the floor.

Angel looked at her as he helped her to her feet, "Was there a demon?" He helped her to the couch in the middle of the lobby, Wes, Fred, and Gunn looking at her worryingly.

"No, I didn't see anything attacking her, but . . . "

"But what?" Angel asked, a little impatient.

"Well I didn't see a demon attacking her, but there was a demon." The guys looked at her in confusion. "She was a vampire. But we're supposed to help her."

Angel looked at her with confusion. "Did you get anything else from the vision? Maybe something that'll tell us exactly why I need to save a vampire who is in no apparent danger?"

"Nothing exactly, but I did get the feeling that she was kinda strong. And that we need to get to her, before someone like say, oh I don't know, Wolfram & Hart, maybe. I got the feeling that they're going to try and sway her to the dark side."

Angel nodded, "where'd you say she was?"

"I didn't get an address. Some very unsanitary, broken down building. I think it's near that old movie theater on Lord street."

He nodded again and signaled to Wesley, and Gunn. "Wes, Gunn, let's go."

"Actually Angel," Cordy started again from her position on the couch. "I think you should go by yourself. Vampire to vampire? She's just a kid, and she's scared. Strong superpowers or not." She smiled weakly at Angel as he nodded yet again, and turned to leave.

Cordelia sighed tiredly and leaned her head back with a hand on her forehead. "I sure could do with an ice pack and some Advil," she said pointedly. Hearing Fred rush off to the little fridge they had, she closed her eyes and cursed the powers for such 3-D visions.

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End file.
